Quote from: Charon's Little Helper;1141270I really didn't think much of The Belgariad. It was fine - but it was pretty generic, and the MC holds the idiot ball too often for my taste.

HOWEVER - the guy who does the audiobook of it was amazing. He is what kept me going. He does things like having each of the nations have a consistent accent, while at the same time you can still tell the main few characters apart by their voices despite having the same accent as a bunch of random characters.

I wouldn't ever recommend the books themselves (again - they're fine but generic) but I'd definitely recommend the audiobooks.

I think "generic" is a pretty good term to use. I doubt I'd like the series much if I read it for the first time today, but it worked pretty well for me when I was a kid. It actually has a surprising number of darker elements for such a basic good-guys-saving-the-world tale. I haven't read it in quite a few years and hadn't planned to any time soon, but if I do decide to go through it again I may have to give the audiobooks a listen. I'm a little curious about how the guy handles some of the pronunciations--I recall never knowing how to properly pronounce Belgarath in my head.

Quote from: Charon's Little Helper;1141270I really didn't think much of The Belgariad. It was fine - but it was pretty generic, and the MC holds the idiot ball too often for my taste.

HOWEVER - the guy who does the audiobook of it was amazing. He is what kept me going. He does things like having each of the nations have a consistent accent, while at the same time you can still tell the main few characters apart by their voices despite having the same accent as a bunch of random characters.

I wouldn't ever recommend the books themselves (again - they're fine but generic) but I'd definitely recommend the audiobooks.

I've reread it several times as a lazy read.  (Once I reread it when I had the flu, for example.  I already know how everything happens.  So if I black out a chapter or two during the reread, nothing really lost.)  If Silk weren't in it, I wouldn't have read it as much as I did, though.  There's something about the character that makes me think of the story as a gaming session with Silk's player as the one guy that isn't quite ready to submit to the railroad.  

Greetings!

Well, I have been reading the following books in recent weeks. Very interesting and cool things to learn about!

War Elephants By Konstantin Nossov. Osprey Publishing, 2008. 48 pages.

War Elephants By John M. Kistler. Greenwood Publishing Group, 2005. 333 pages.

Warriors of the Steppe By Erik Hildinger. Sarpedon, 1997. 260 pages.

Ghengis Khan's Greatest General--Subotai the Valiant By Richard A. Gabriel. University of Oklahoma Press, 2006. 164 pages.

Ghengis Khan--His Conquests, His Empire, His Legacy By Frank McLynn. da capo press, 2015. 646 pages.

Semper Fidelis,

SHARK

Personally I would have stopped after the first War Elephant book.

Y'all, not gonna lie. I picked up a book written by . . . wait for it . . . a booktuber! If you've watched any booktube at all, you probably know exactly what I'm going to say. Yes, I grabbed the audiobook for The Savior's Champion by Jenna Moreci. I did look at the reviews, guys, and they're really consistently good(I was not expecting that; just being honest), so I'm . . . cautiously optimistic? Whatever. I had to get away from that depressing First Law book, and the next Stormlight Archive book isn't scheduled to come out until November, so this is worth a shot.

Sorry The First Law didn't do it for you; I'll stop yammering about it.  

(What the hell is booktube?)

I've been chipping away at my fresh hardcopy of FantasyCraft, and once I saw how cheap it was, grabbed a copy of Vornheim.  (I still don't know the Zak S. story; I find a lot of accusations and little facts.  Some level of he-said-she-said, don't put your d*ck in crazy...)

Vornheim is a half-sized hardcopy that is giving me eyestrain and headaches.  I can't tell if I like it or not yet as I've just -tried- to skim it, and it ain't that kind of book.

FantasyCraft has me trying to figure out when I can squeeze another game night in, because I clearly need to play it to get it.

Anyone here read the Half-Orcs or Paladins books by David Dalgish?

Quote from: LiferGamer;1141349Sorry The First Law didn't do it for you; I'll stop yammering about it.  

(What the hell is booktube?)

I've been chipping away at my fresh hardcopy of FantasyCraft, and once I saw how cheap it was, grabbed a copy of Vornheim.  (I still don't know the Zak S. story; I find a lot of accusations and little facts.  Some level of he-said-she-said, don't put your d*ck in crazy...)

Vornheim is a half-sized hardcopy that is giving me eyestrain and headaches.  I can't tell if I like it or not yet as I've just -tried- to skim it, and it ain't that kind of book.

FantasyCraft has me trying to figure out when I can squeeze another game night in, because I clearly need to play it to get it.

Anyone here read the Half-Orcs or Paladins books by David Dalgish?

Greetings!

*Laughing* Yeah, perhaps I am a heretic--but Vornheim just didn't impress me much in the slightest. There seems to be some good ideas in there, but the cute little size of the book and the tiny, cramped print just made me lose interest in it entirely. I tossed it into one of my bookshelves and haven't looked at it since.

Semper Fidelis,

SHARK

Quote from: LiferGamer;1141349Sorry The First Law didn't do it for you; I'll stop yammering about it.

It's fine. Not everything suits everyone. It's apparently doing it for a lot of people considering its sales numbers, and I don't begrudge anyone that.

Quote(What the hell is booktube?)

Just a shorthand for the loose-knit community of book reviewers that put up videos on YouTube. You know how once a particular type of video becomes a "thing" how the community that sprouts up around it takes on common characteristics? Same here. You get everything from regular book reviews to rant reviews, analyses of various aspects of worldbuilding(such as magic systems and whatnot), tons of Top 10 X lists, book recommendations, various challenges, round table style discussions, and more. Oh, and most booktubers like to show off their filled bookcases behind them when they film.

QuoteI've been chipping away at my fresh hardcopy of FantasyCraft, and once I saw how cheap it was, grabbed a copy of Vornheim.  (I still don't know the Zak S. story; I find a lot of accusations and little facts.  Some level of he-said-she-said, don't put your d*ck in crazy...)

Vornheim is a half-sized hardcopy that is giving me eyestrain and headaches.  I can't tell if I like it or not yet as I've just -tried- to skim it, and it ain't that kind of book.

FantasyCraft has me trying to figure out when I can squeeze another game night in, because I clearly need to play it to get it.

A-ha, I see you've come across . . . the thread! I can see my copy as well as the Adventure Companion from where I'm sitting. I have some issues with it, but nothing that keeps it from being my absolute favorite d20 variant or me from being totally willing to play it at the drop of a hat(schedule permitting and all, of course; I am an adult with certain responsibilities). Since that thread began, I've been reading on FC, probably more than I've read on any rule book in quite a while. It's still very solid, and I really hope I get a chance to play it again.

Quote from: Steven Mitchell;1141279I've reread it several times as a lazy read.  (Once I reread it when I had the flu, for example.  I already know how everything happens.  So if I black out a chapter or two during the reread, nothing really lost.)  If Silk weren't in it, I wouldn't have read it as much as I did, though.  There's something about the character that makes me think of the story as a gaming session with Silk's player as the one guy that isn't quite ready to submit to the railroad.  

Eddings's series (the Belgariad, the Malloreon, the Elenium, and the Tamuli) are pretty straightforward but they're not terrible. Kind of like watching a B-grade horror flick with Joe Bob Briggs, you know what you're getting, but at least it'll be fun.

People bag on John Ringo sometimes, but I find his novels to be pretty good. I think a lot of people latched onto 'OH JOHN RINGO NO' while forgetting that the book in question had a protagonist who was seriously messed up, and was not supposed to be entirely sympathetic.

You defenestrated him? That's a horrible thing to do to a man!

Chalk me up for fond memories of Edding's stuff, and yeah I'm in agreement with the B-movie comparisons.

Quote from: LiferGamer;1141383Chalk me up for fond memories of Edding's stuff, and yeah I'm in agreement with the B-movie comparisons.

I've specifically refused to re-read them because I don't want to tarnish the nostalgia of reading those as a young teen.  They are a bright shining glow tucked away in the back of my mind.

I just finished The Red Knight by Miles Cameron, and it was a breath of fresh air after reading some of Robin Hobb's books. It reminded me of The Black Company in fantasy pseudo-England.

Because it has caused a great deal of rancor among Lovecraftians, I am about 30 pages into Matt Ruff's Lovecraft Country. While not badly written, of this first 30 odd pages, Id say about four could have been edited out. So far it looks like a rather trope-y and conventional horror story with a mix of interesting and improbable characters with an SJW spin. The trailer of the HBO show looks like garbage.

Quote from: GeekEclectic;1141317Yes, I grabbed the audiobook for The Savior's Champion by Jenna Moreci.

I've listened to a couple hours of this, so might as well update. So far it's not bad, but it seems extremely derivative of The Hunger Games. Different reasons, same(well, similar? kind of? I'm up to where the contest is just starting - yes, she gets to it very quickly) type of contest. It's pretty obvious just from the first couple chapters that there's something fishy about this whole Savior thing - the white light that signifies her "divine" heritage and power to do amazing things is obviously real, though no evidence of her actually doing amazing things is forthcoming(yet, anyway). She's literally said to be responsible for keeping war, disease, and more at bay, but she can still be killed by a simple stabbing(how her mother died) and needs to be locked away from everyone for her own protection . . . yeah, something's really not adding up. I am intrigued, and still cautiously optimistic, so I'm hoping things will be revealed that take this away from the all-too-familiar Hunger Games territory it's currently occupying in my head.

As for the writing style, I'm going to assume it's meant for the "New Adult" category that I didn't even know was a thing that existed until booktube told me about it. Which is basically books that feel like they should belong in the Young Adult section, except there's just a bit too much sex and cursing and stuff. Like a teenager trying to seem more mature by being edgy, but nobody's buying it.

Quote from: GeekEclectic;1141459I've listened to a couple hours of this, so might as well update. So far it's not bad, but it seems extremely derivative of The Hunger Games. Different reasons, same(well, similar? kind of? I'm up to where the contest is just starting - yes, she gets to it very quickly) type of contest. It's pretty obvious just from the first couple chapters that there's something fishy about this whole Savior thing - the white light that signifies her "divine" heritage and power to do amazing things is obviously real, though no evidence of her actually doing amazing things is forthcoming(yet, anyway). She's literally said to be responsible for keeping war, disease, and more at bay, but she can still be killed by a simple stabbing(how her mother died) and needs to be locked away from everyone for her own protection . . . yeah, something's really not adding up. I am intrigued, and still cautiously optimistic, so I'm hoping things will be revealed that take this away from the all-too-familiar Hunger Games territory it's currently occupying in my head.

As for the writing style, I'm going to assume it's meant for the "New Adult" category that I didn't even know was a thing that existed until booktube told me about it. Which is basically books that feel like they should belong in the Young Adult section, except there's just a bit too much sex and cursing and stuff. Like a teenager trying to seem more mature by being edgy, but nobody's buying it.

Unfortunately, i have heard the reviews and what you likely suspect is true. Many of the reviewers are her fans, and from what ive heard the books target audience is basically the hunger games crowd mow that they're a bit older. Most reviews ive seen of it on youtube were either indifferent or negative, but most of them were outside the target audience (mostly young or middle aged men.)

Quote from: KingCheops;1141411I've specifically refused to re-read them because I don't want to tarnish the nostalgia of reading those as a young teen.  They are a bright shining glow tucked away in the back of my mind.

Reread them. Even if they're the equivalent of B-movies, they're still fun. And I still consider Belgarath one of the best subversions of the 'wise old wizard' concept I've ever seen (for those not in the know, Belgarath is the wise old mentor figure, seven thousand years old. He's also totally disrespectable if you don't actually know who he is -- he comes off as an itinerant storyteller who drinks too much and shamelessly flirts with the ladies. This isn't entirely all an act, either).